Imported Granite Replaces Vermont Stone

<div style="text-align: center"><img src="/files/u2/Graniteville.jpg" title="graniteville" alt="graniteville" height="82" hspace="3" vspace="3" width="125" /></div>America imports cars, flowers, meat, tele-marketers and dog food. But who knew that we imported so much granite that the local stone quarries in Vermont are closing up?<br /><br />Yes, it is likely that the headstone on your grave will come from Chinese or Indian imports, according to a <a href="http://www.boston.com/news/local/vermont/articles/2008/02/11/imports_chip_away_at_vt_granite_industry/?page=full" target="_blank">story from the Boston Globe</a>. (The granite industry has been further hurt by an increase in cremations.) Stone for the new Martin Luther King, Jr., memorial in DC is being made of Chinese granite. Now the Vermont stone industry is laying off people and the small towns in the central part of the state that supplied workers to the quarries are hurting.<br /><br />The next generation of stone cutters around Graniteville, Vermont, (above) are looking elsewhere for employment. "One of the most difficult things is that young people are not going into the industry because they are concerned about whether the industry will survive," said one worker.